Standing at the Trailhead of Winter

 

Well, the good news is the new furnace is much more efficient than the old. After a full month of having it run, a comparison of this November over last November shows less natural gas usage, like 18% less usage. And this is with running the fireplace, too. Last November I didn't have the fireplace installed, so it was just the furnace heating the house. Through this November, I used the fireplace quite a bit, so both it and the furnace were consuming natural gas. The fact the two still used less natural gas over the old furnace makes me incredibly happy. I feel like my quest to leave a smaller footprint is happening. The bad news is the price of natural gas this November is double the price of natural gas last November. When I saw the change, I was speechless. Twice as much. Seriously. This country is going absolutely insane. After lamenting all of this to a close friend yesterday, she said, "Well, I know you don't eat bacon, but it's now $13 a package, and that's...

Murphy is now 13 weeks old. Already seven weeks have passed since I brought him home. During those seven weeks, he's become Ado's best friend (most of the time) and he has learned how to be a part of the family. As of this week, I believe he is completely housebroken because he hasn't done his business in the house at all. We'd been down to once a day up until last Monday, and every day since he has come to me when he needs to go out. He gives me a look and then a little bark. Just like Ado, when I say, "Outside?" he turns and looks out the window then heads for the door. His bark for needing to pee is different than his bark for needing to poop, which is too funny. The "poop" bark is much more urgent. Ado has been a great teacher for when it's time for play and when it's time to settle down, especially in the evenings. Both dogs settle in for the night by 7 o'clock, and after one last trip outside around 9, both sleep through the night, ...

Day 3 into a 30 day healthy eating challenge with a friend turned into an epic failure for me. I did really well right up until dinner. I stood up to join the family in the kitchen, and I made it as far as the table then had to hold onto one of the chairs while I waited for the grip of dizziness to pass. That bout of dizziness was the second time today that I about went down. The first time happened when I stood from sitting at my desk in the office. Thankfully Funny Delightful Son was standing next to the desk and wanted to give me a hug right then. I put my arms around him and used our hug to keep myself steady. After the second round of seeing major black spots and feeling that telltale weakness wash through my muscles, I succumbed to eating not just one grilled cheese sandwich but two. And some Greek yogurt. After watching an episode of our current Netflix choice, I stood and waited. Nothing. Thankfully. Going cold turkey on giving up sugar and processed carbs is tough. I know I...

I've got the blah's. For about two weeks now, I've not had any desire to get out and ride, at least not beyond the commuting. The commuting has been good--cooler mornings so I don't arrive to work in need of another shower, light traffic since I leave early. So the cycling to work is going just peachy. Getting out for longer rides, though, has been non-existent. I've kind of decided to just let my blah's work themselves out. I hope they do soon. Part of the lack of cycling desire stems from returning to work. At least that's what I'm going with. Going from having all the time in the world to get out and just go without other commitments to worry about to having to be somewhere to do something every single day is a shock to the emotional system. Going from being able to think about nothing, what I truly believe were moments of reaching the end of my brain as I'm rolling along (my hubby finds this incredibly funny, but I swear there were instances of...

The weather since last Thursday has been up and down. Rain, lightning, wind, sun, 90 degrees, 65 degrees: you name it, we've had it. Up until yesterday afternoon, I hadn't ridden since Wednesday, not solely because of the weather, and I was feeling the need to get out for a long one. I did pull myself out of bed early yesterday to get in a two mile run, in the rain, initially hoping to go at least three, but the lightning lit up the dark gray sky, so I turned tail and scurried for home. Afterward, as I sat drinking a large glass of ice water, I marveled over me actually getting out of bed to go for a run. No doubt I really needed to expend some energy. By noon, the clouds and the storms they carried moved on by, and the clear sky, the little to no wind, beckoned me to ride. So I did. 56 miles. I've ridden this route one time before when the wind was blowing 20+ mph out of the southwest, right into my face the last ten miles. That ride was brutal, taking me 3 hours and 25 ...